1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to wiring harnesses and methods and, more particularly, to optical harness assemblies and methods for retrofitting same into legacy systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles, aircraft and watercraft, both commercial and military, include a wide range of onboard electrical and electronic equipment for command and control, communication and defense applications. Electrical (e.g., copper) wiring harnesses are commonly employed in such applications as part of the power distribution and communication network between and among the onboard hardware, such as terminal equipment or line-replaceable units (“LRUs”).
Where factors such as weight, size, reliability, maintainability, supportability, environmental effects and total ownership costs are important, as in aircraft and watercraft platforms, electrical wiring harnesses have certain shortcomings. They are relatively heavy, bulky and inflexible. Wiring harnesses also contribute to undesirable radio frequency interference (“RFI”) and other electromagnetic interference (“EMI”) effects.
For example, on military aircraft such as rotorcrafts or small unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”), weight and size are major factors. These aircraft need as much spare payload and space as possible. Reducing the weight and size of the wiring harnesses leads to a higher rate of ascent, a longer flight endurance and greater payloads. Equally, reliability, maintainability, RFI and EMI immunity are important considerations when designing and implementing wiring harnesses for these types of applications. Furthermore, it is undesirable to remove, replace or redesign onboard terminal equipment (e.g., LRUs) as a result of the replacement of a wiring harness. Rather, it would be desirable to be able to replace legacy harnesses without disturbing the LRUs and their electrical connections.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved harness assembly having an architecture that is relatively lighter and smaller, reliable, maintainable, minimizes RFI and EMI and provides a minimal impact to existing LRUs. There is also a need for a harness assembly that is retrofittable into existing legacy platforms and that minimizes the need to replace or reconfigure terminal equipment and network architecture.